Jerry Jones has heard plenty about what is wrong with the Dallas Cowboys, and another Sunday loss has given fans even more reasons to question his decisions.

The frustration is understandable after Dallas let a game slip away that it seemed to have under control. But while much of the criticism has landed on the owner, Cris Collinsworth believes the players and coaches need to take a long, hard look at themselves first.

Cris Collinsworth Shifts Blame From Jerry Jones to Cowboys Players

Collinsworth argued that Jones has already provided the personnel changes the Cowboys requested.

In Week 8, Dallas fell to 3-5 after surrendering a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in a 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Their defense is struggling, as evidenced by the fact that they rank dead last in PFN’s NFL Defense Impact Metric%20assigns,red%20zone%20and%20third%20downs.).

The loss ended a remarkable streak: Dallas had previously won all 191 home games since 1991 in which it held a lead of at least 14 points during the fourth quarter, including the playoffs.

“This isn’t on Jerry Jones. We did our job. You guys are blowing it,” Collinsworth said. He then pointed to the additions made by the front office, including a new defensive coordinator and cornerback Joey Porter Jr., whom Dallas acquired from Pittsburgh.

“If I were Jerry, I’d probably do exactly what he’s done, which is, no, I paid all you guys. You said you needed this. You needed a new defensive coordinator. You needed Joey Porter. You needed all these different things. I got them. You guys go fix it,” he added.

Collinsworth also challenged the coaching staff and players to address their problems without waiting for Jones to intervene.

“As a football team, you’ve got your head coach, you got your captains, you got your team, and everybody is waiting on Jerry Jones to do something, which takes the pressure off the football team. Not me. I’m not going out and doing something again. You guys are crazy. You guys get yourself in a closed room and figure it out,” he said.

However, the debate over Jones’ management goes beyond personnel decisions. The Cowboys are valued at $17 billion, according to the September 2026 Forbes figures provided, with $1.3 billion in annual revenue and $677 million in operating income.

Despite these resources, Jones is rumored to have maintained a limit of around $13 million for a head coach.

NFL Network insider Jane Slater shared that a veteran coach’s agent dismissed the possibility of Jones paying even that amount to a head coach. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Jones also argued that there was “zero correlation” between a coach’s salary and winning.

This position faces questions when considering the league’s recent results. Several of the NFL’s highest-paid coaches, including Andy Reid, Sean McVay, Nick Sirianni and John Harbaugh, have won Super Bowls as head coaches.

Jones hired Brian Schottenheimer on a reported $4.5 million contract, far below the market price for established candidates.